Under the Sea
by mynameispaige
Summary: Ariel has always been the dreamer. Constantly going on adventures with her childhood merfriend, Bastian, the two are practically inseparable. Bastian has always been there for her to protect her from harm as a friend should, but when Ariel rescues a human prince from drowning he fears that he may not be able to protect her from the new dangers in her path... Disney Ariel/OC
1. Exploring

**This is something I've been dreaming up for a while now and decided to actually get it out there! Hope you enjoy, it's my version of Disney's "The Little Mermaid" basically. Hope you enjoy it if you read it :)**

"Oh, come on Bastian! Don't be such a guppy!" Ariel taunted happily, shooting ahead of the young merman with a flash of her green tail. He flicked his own powerful blue one to catch up to her.

"I am not a guppy and you know it!" he called out to her as he sped to catch up. She only laughed as she zoomed ahead, her red hair flying out behind her. He had always been awed by the intense hue of her hair. It stood out in the ocean like a flame under the water, always managing to catch anyone's eye that she happened to be around when she swam by. It also got the attention of several of the Mermen, and those glances always put Bastian on edge. He was, as Ariel often put it, "overly protective" of the young princess.

"Ariel..." they at the edge of the reef, overlooking a large expanse of plain ocean floor, blank and eery. "I still don't think this is a good idea." he had said it so many times before, but it had never done any good.

"Bastian it's fine, how many times have we gone out there and nothing has happened before? Hmm?" She smiled over at him as she crossed into the barren underwater wasteland. She was drawn to this place for some reason, most likely for the sense of danger that pervaded the area as well as the shipwrecks.

The shipwrecks were her favorite. She could always find interesting things in the bellies of the great sunken vessels; forgotten treasures that fascinated her. She gripped her bag excitedly, wondering what items she would bring home today.

Bastian sighed and followed after the young mermaid, keeping an eye out for any trouble that may come their way.

It wasn't long before they found one, a giant hulking form in the distance.

"There it is!" Ariel cried excitedly, shooting forward toward the massive sunken ship. "Bastian come on!"

They entered by means of a large hole in the bow of the ship, swimming carefully so not to scratch up against the jagged wood. Ariel swam through the wreckage, darting about and looking for anything that might catch her eye. Bastian stayed behind to keep watch by the way they had come, glancing occasionally at Ariel to make sure she was all right.

She disappeared further into the wreckage, out of Bastian's line of sight. He followed her, finding her shoving pieces of debris aside to see if there was anything interesting underneath. She struggled with a heavier piece, grunting with exertion.

"Here, let me help you with that." Bastian took her place and shoved at the heavy beam of wood, effectively shoving it out of the way.

"Thanks Bastian." She flashed him a stunning smile, making his heart squeeze.

"Sure..." he muttered quietly as Ariel examined what had previously been beneath the heavy beam. She gasped and resurfaced, waving a strange object around excitedly.

"Look! Look what I found!" she grinned, her eyes sparkling happily.

"What is it?" Bastian took the object in his hand, turning it over. It was hard and cold, reflective when he rubbed the grime off of it's surface.

"I don't know! But isn't it beautiful?" she took it back from him, gazing at it lovingly. Bastian watched her with a sinking heart, knowing that she would never look at him like that. Even after all of these years...she still didn't know how much he really cared about her. He didn't have much of a chance with her anyway, she was the princess! He was a nobody.

"Come on, we should be getting back." Bastian grabbed her hand and lightly pulled her toward the exit, leading her while she just stared at her newfound treasure.

What neither of the two young merpeople hadn't noticed in the time they had been exploring the ship was a dark shape lurking just out of sight, watching them.

"Let's just get that thing back to the grotto and get you home. You know your father doesn't like it when you come out here."

The dark shape moved then, coming out of the shadows and trailing after the preoccupied pair.

"What should we call it?" Ariel asked, smiling giddily as she scrubbed the remaining grime off the surface of the object.

"I don't know, you're usually the one who names the things you find."

"That's not true, you named the one we found in the-"

"Wait." Bastian stopped abruptly, causing Ariel to bump into him from behind. He glanced about, searching for any sign of danger. He felt a cold tingle in his spine, a feeling of unease setting him on edge.

"What is it?" Ariel placed her treasure in her bag slung over her shoulder, gripping Bastian's arm tightly in fear. Bastian scowled, looking around once more, searching for what was setting his teeth on edge. He studied a particularly dark place underneath a craggy rock ledge, searching for any sign of movement.

When he saw nothing, he turned to Ariel to see a look of fear and intrigue on her face. "Let's go. It's nothing."

Just then the shadows moved and a massive great white shark came barreling toward them at full speed, mouth gaping wide to reveal thousands of razor sharp teeth.


	2. Shark Attack

Ariel saw the shark first as it barreled toward them, letting out a shrill scream of terror as she dug her nails into Bastian's arm. He whirled and dove to the side with Ariel in tow just in time to get out of the way of the shark's gaping jaws. The great white wheeled about, turning around to charge them once again.

"Ariel, go!" Bastian's shoved the young princess out of harm's way to face the great white alone. Ariel swam away with her bag in tow, headed for Atlantica. She turned back to see Bastian's battling the monster, dodging the razor teeth by mere inches. She gasped in horror when he wasn't quick enough and the great white's fin clipped him on the side of the head. Momentarily dazed, he didn't notice that the great white was bearing down on him from behind.

"Bastian!" She screamed. He looked up to see her swimming hurriedly toward him. He blinked blearily, unable to focus. His head was pounding heavily; his eyes clouded over by the haze of pain.

Suddenly Ariel knocked into him, wrapping her skinny arms around his torso and shoving him aside just as the beast's teeth snapped shut in the exact spot that Bastian had been seconds before. Bastian was brought back to himself as his vision cleared to see Ariel's frightened expression. He took a quick glance around to see that they were hiding behind a large rock, the shark wheeling about above them as it sniffed them out.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do-"

Ariel wasn't listening, but was instead staring above them at the shark as it tracked them. She gripped at his arm frantically, her nails digging into his skin again. "Bastian, Bastian it's coming back-!"

Bastian turned her toward him, but she was still staring at the shark above. "Ariel look at me. Look at me, okay?" He gripped her chin gently and turned her to face him. Her blue eyes were wide in panic, but she was able to calm a bit as she looked into Bastian's smiling face. He had to be confident so that she wouldn't have to be. "I've got you. It's going to be all right, I promise. You just have to listen to me, okay? I won't let you get hurt. We're just going to get you back to the ship okay? You're going to hide there and I'll lead the shark away. Then I'll come back for you when it's safe, all right?"

She blinked and swallowed nervously, but she did not break his gaze to look for the shark. Bastian's took that as a good sign and smiled reassuringly at her, trying to portray confidence when he himself was a bit frightened if he was going to be honest. He looked up over the rock to locate the shark when Ariel wrapped herself around his middle in a tight embrace. She buried her face in his chest, her eyes shut tight. When Bastian returned her embrace he realized she was shaking. He cupped her chin in both of his hands and placed a tender kiss to her forehead.

"I will always protect you." He whispered, his forehead pressed to hers.

When he pulled back he gripped her hand in his and hastily pulling her along beside him towards the ship. Bastian kept a wary eye on the great white, still searching for them a ways away. They dodged behind large clumps of seaweed and craggy rocks, staying out of sight until they reached the hole in the ship. Bastian pushed Ariel inside and she turned around to watch him with wide eyes as he picked up a large piece of shiny hard stuff. It would serve as a crude spear, and it was about the same length as one of the spears the guards used at the palace. The end was sharp and lethal-looking, and Ariel flinched away from it.

"Bastian be careful." She whispered from inside a makeshift shelter that Bastian was making around her with the debris for the ship. He looked at her through a crevice in the barricade to see the light hitting her frightened blue eyes. Her hand extended toward him to grip his own through the hole, and he leaned down to give it a kiss.

"I'll be right back." He promised, then hefted his makeshift spear and headed out to face the shark. He squared his shoulders as he sped away from the ship so to not lead the shark to Ariel. Once he was a decent distance away, he let out a hoarse shout to call the shark's attention. It wheeled around immediately and with a mighty slash of its tail it was speeding toward him head on. Bastian gripped his spear tightly and gritted his teeth, thinking only of Ariel.

The shark was upon him, and as it was about to snap him up with its razor teeth Bastian's feinted to the left and lifted his spear. He closed his eyes, as he was sure that he had moved too late. There was a mighty tug on his makeshift spear as it was tugged out of his hands. He cried out as the unexpected movement sliced open a gash in the palm of his hand. Opening his eyes he looked down to see that he was bleeding heavily; a cloud of blood spilling out if his hand. Looking up he saw the shark, Bastian's spear lodged into its side. It seemingly gave him no hindrance however because at the smell of Bastian's blood the shark came at him with a renewed fervor, desperate for his flesh. Bastian wouldn't be able to get out of the way in time to avoid those gaping jaws. As his world slowed he thought he heard Ariel screaming his name.


End file.
